Tyreek Jewell Makes Immediate Impact at Jamestown CC

After toiling in the relative obscurity of the PSAL "B" division during his high school career, Tyreek Jewell received national recognition in just his first week as a college player, leading all NJCAA Division II scorers with 32 ppg. while also grabbing 12 rpg. for Jamestown (NY). His amazing opening week earned him honors as NJCAA Region III Co-Athlete of the Week.

Jewell,  a 6-2 wing from the Bronx, started his college career with 38 points (including 7 three-pointers) and 16 rebounds in an 82-77 loss to Tompkins-Cortland (NY), which received 14 points and 14 boards from Jesse Okkeagu. He followed that with 23 points and 9 rebounds in a 93-64 rout of Pitt-Titusville (PA), 29 points and 13 rebounds in a 106-92 loss to Chesapeake (MD) and then hit for another 38 points with 13 boards in a 102-82 setback to Division I Frederick (MD).

Piling up these double-doubles is nothing new for Tyreek, who averaged 27 and 13 as a senior, 15 and 13 as a junior, and 15 and 12 as a soph in his three years at the HS for Leadership and Public Service. He started receiving exposure last spring through his selection to the 2012 NYC Mayors Cup Game and the Funsport "Battle For The City", along with his participation in the Big Apple College Exposure Games and the Bedford Y high school and unlimited teams in the spring and summer.

Mike Balogun Signs D-1 Letter of Intent



Michael Balogun



Michael Balogun, from Staten Island (NY) Curtis HS, currently at West Hill (CA) CC, signed his National Letter of Intent with Southern Illinois of the Missouri Valley Conference during the first day of the NCAA fall signing period.

The 6-1 combo guard averaged 12.7 points as one of the top JC freshmen in Califormia last year, adding 73 assists and 32 steals in 30 games while being named to the Central Valley Conference All-Freshman team. West Hills finished 17-13 during the 2011-12 season.



Balogun played this summer for the college/unlimited team of Bedford Y/Big Apple Sports and got additional exposure at the All-American JUCO Showcase in Las Vegas in July.

The link to the newspaper article on Balogun's commitment that was made after a visit to SIU in late-October: 

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/california-guard-commits-to-siu-men-s-basketball-team/article_a502328e-2151-11e2-88f8-001a4bcf887a.html

BallStars JUCO Jamboree Lineup for 10/21

The East Coast JUCO Jamboree conducted by BallStars will be held on Sunday, 10/21/12 at the Hoop Group Center in Neptune, New Jersey.

Scrimmage games will be run on four courts every hour from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm with the following teams scheduled to participate:

Junior Collges:

Westchester * Lackawanna * Monroe * Bergen * Atlantic Cape * Bunker Hill * Queensborough * Gateway * North Essex * Sussex * Burlington * Raritan Valley * Union * Harford * Gloucester *


Preps / Clubs:

Big Apple Sports * CJETO * TBIA Black * TBIA White * TBIA Yellow * TBIA Blue * Prestige Prep * Manhattan Sports * Philly Ballers *


For more information on this event, contact Rick Ball (850) 791-9454

Big Apple Sports Goes Unbeaten at Island Garden Showcase

Big Apple Sports went 3-0 at the Hoop Mountain Fall Classic held October 14 at the Island Garden in West Hempstead (NY).

The participating players for Big Apple, most of whom also excelled at the PSAL Sullivan Games at City College a day earlier, were as follows:

Shequel Jones, a 6-3 senior wing, from New York (NY) Randolph HS. . . Cantrell Barker, a 5-7 senior point guard, from Queens (NY) Bayside HS. . . Nate Williams,  a 6-5 senior combo guard, from New York (NY) Manhattan HS. . . Rachard Moody, a 5-8 senior point guard, from Brooklyn (NY) Jefferson HS. . . Eudes Pierre, a 6-3 senior wing, from Brooklyn (NY) Prospect Heights HS. . . Romario Fletcher, a 6-4 senior wing, from Queens (NY) Pathways HS. . . Quwi Nicks, a 6-6 senior power forward, from New York (NY) Wadleigh HS. . . Palamina Marong, a 6-7 senior power forward, from Bronx (NY) Kennedy HS. . . Lewahn Lewis, a 6-0 junior combo guard, from Brooklyn (NY) Grand Street Campus HS. . . Nathaniel Wyatte, a 6-2 junior wing, from Brooklyn (NY) Enterprises HS. . . Bard Featherston, a 6-0 soph combo guard, from Brooklyn (NY) Xaverian HS.

For more information on any of these players, contact: bigapplesports@hotmail.com.

Iowa State Commit Hogue Leads Indian Hills at Mullens

Dustin Hogue

Dustin Hogue, a 6-6 wing out of Yonkers (NY) Lincoln HS, gave a verbal commitment to Iowa State the week before leading Indian Hills (IA) at the Mullen-Mitchell JUCO Jamboree in Dallas.

Hogue (pictured at right) averaged 11.1 points and 5.5 rebounds as a freshman in 2011-12 for the Warriors, who finished seventh in the NJCAA National Tournament. He also received offers from Iowa, Washington State and Texas Tech. 

The annual Dallas Jamboree had another large turnout of Division I coaches watching the 58 junior colleges and prep school teams from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Kansas, Iowa, Florida and California.

In addition to Hogue and his IHCC teammate Rawane Ndiaye, a 6-10 soph from New York (NY), more than 40 players from the tri-state were in action during the two days of scrimmages at four sites.

David Samuels

David Joseph, a 6-1 redshirt freshman from Queens (NY), and DaShaun Wiggins, a 6-2 soph from the Bronx (NY), were part of the backcourt rotation for Howard (TX). . . Edson Avila, a 6-10 soph from the Bronx (NY), and Jabari Peters, a 6-4 soph from Brooklyn (NY), played major minutes for Seward (KS). . . Ede Egharevba, a 6-6 redshirt freshman, from Queens (NY), is now at Midland (TX) after transferring from Wichita State. . . Mike Taylor, a 6-3 soph from Brooklyn (NY), and Tafari Whittingham, a 6-8 freshman, from Stratford (CT), are both at Hutchinson (KS). . . Defending NJCAA South Plains (TX) has Malik Nichols, a 6-6 freshman from Queens (NY), and Darrel Lucky, a 5-9 freshman from Brooklyn (NY). . . David Samuels (pictured at left), a 6-7 soph from the Bronx (NY), received considerable interest while playing for host school Collin (TX).

Also on the roster of teams from the Dallas event: Mohammad Lee, a 6-3 soph from the Bronx (NY), and Uzonna Akazi, a 6-7 freshman from Queens (NY), at San Jacinto (TX). . . Andell Cumberbatch, a 6-4 soph from East Orange (NJ), at Barton (KS). . . Dondre Jackson, 6-0 freshman from Queens (NY), Mika Harris, 6-5 freshman from Camden (NJ), Jaymere Hadden, 6-4 soph from Milville (NJ), Josh Ashley, 6-6 freshman from Brooklyn (NY), Devin Coleman, 5-10 freshman from Bridgeport (CT), all at Carl Albert (OK). . . Audy Tillery, 6-2 soph from Brooklyn (NY) and Romell Bateman, 6-4 soph from Newark (NJ), both at Clarendon (TX). . . Mike White, 6-5 freshman from Brooklyn (NY) at Hill (TX). . . Jamal Goodwin, a 6-4 freshman from Bloomfield (NJ), and Will Meachum, a 6-9 freshman from Shoreham (NY), at Independence (KS). . . Davon Anderson, a 6-7 freshman from the Bronx (NY), at Jacksonville (TX). . . Anthony Allen, a 7-1 redshirt freshman, from Bridgeport (CT), at Lamar-Port Arthur (TX). . . Trashon Burrell, 6-7 freshman from Albany (NY) at Lee (TX). . . Justin Phillipe, 6-7 soph, from Linden (NJ) at Navarro (TX). . . Jeff Neverson, 6-4 freshman from Brooklyn (NY) at New Mexico. . . Dashawn Suber, a 5-11 freshman from Mount Vernon (NY), Najee Whitehead, a 6-3 freshman from Mount Vernon (NY), Tajay Henry, a 6-5 freshman from Queens (NY) and Eric Edwards, a 6-7 freshman from Binghamton (NY), all at New Mexico Military. . . Shondell Stewart, 6-2 soph from Paterson (NJ) at Odessa (TX). . . Ben Merritt, 6-5 soph from Logan Township (NJ) at Panola (TX). . . Markens Charles, a 5-11 soph from Newark (NJ), Jerry Corillion, a 6-5 soph from West Orange (NJ), both at Ranger (TX). . . Jakari McCalop, 6-7 freshman from Hartford (CT) at Trinity Valley (TX). . . Diijon Allen-Jordan, a 6-6 freshman from Plainfield (NJ), Jalen Chapman, a 6-7 freshman from the Bronx (NY), Ronny Paden, a 6-4 freshman from Willingboro (NJ), and Najee Senior, a 6-1 freshman from the Bronx (NY), are all at Western OKlahoma. . . . Among the preps, Trey Dickinson, 6-1, and Lloyd Wheeler, 6-0, from New York (NY) are at God's Academy in Dallas (TX) while Tarik Raynor, 6-4, and Jameik Riviere, 5-8, from  Queens (NY) are at TAAG Academy (FL).

2012-13 JUCO Preseason Tips Off This Weekend

Although the start of "official" practices was just a few days ago, over 60 NJCAA teams will be putting their squads through an early test this weekend at the Mullen-Mitchell Jamboree in Dallas, Texas.

Among the participants with be South Plains (TX), the 2012 NJCAA Division I National Champions. The Texans, coming off an unbeaten 36-0 season, will open the two-day event on Friday at 11 a.m. at Collin County Community College against Indian Hills (IA), who finished seventh in this year's national tournament.


Four other national tournament contenders will see action in Dallas: Seward (KS), the third-place finisher at the nationals, fourth-place Eastern Oklahoma, seventh-place Indian Hills (IA) and Navarro (TX).

One of the key contributors for South Plains during their title run last season was Brooklyn (NY) native Tymell Murphy, who attended Marcy Campus HS and did one year at upstate Mohawk Valley before transferring to SPC. Murphy, who averaged 9.9 points and 6.6 rebounds for the Texans last season, has moved on to play for Florida International.

Brooklyn, however, will still be represented this season in Levelland, however, as 6-6 Malik Nichols (Boys & Girls HS and Bridgton Academy) and 5-9 Darrel Lucky (Robeson HS and NIA Prep) are both on the South Plains roster for the 2012-13 season.

Big Apple Sports will be watching Nichols and Lucky along with at least two dozen other New York-area players who will be in Dallas this weekend.

Team SCAN Wins 2011 Funsport Junior Pros Title

Team SCAN - 2011 Funsport Junior Pros Champs

After falling short as the underdog in last year’s title contest, Team SCAN succeeded as the favorite this time, pulling away at the start of the second half to win its first Funsport Junior Pros championship with a 59-47 victory over King Street Kings at Baruch College.

Team SCAN was in control for most of the first half before the Kings’ Wolfie Novagratz evened it at 26-26 with a three-pointer with just under a minute left in the half. SCAN’s Unique McLean answered with a two-hand slam of a missed shot to give SCAN a 28-26 halftime advantage.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Bryce Aiken and Temple Gibbs early in the third quarter capped a 13-0 run that expanded the SCAN lead to 39-26. Novagratz got the Kings back within single digits with a short jumper and another three, but a pair of inside scores by Team Scan’s Sterling Hewitt regained the momentum and SCAN went up by as many as 17 points in the final period.

McLean received the MVP trophy after recording 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, as SCAN had four scorers in double figures. Aiken led all scorers with 16 points, Gibbs added 13 points and a game-high 5 assists, and Hewitt and Kyle Elliott chipped in with 10 points apiece. For Aiken, it was a very satisfying turnaround from last year’s final when he fouled out with zero points in the 47-43 loss to Team Final at Madison Square Garden.

Unique McLean (Team Scan)

Novagratz and Najee Taylor each netted 15 points to lead King Street , which took its first loss after reaching the finals with upset playoff wins over F.A.C.E.S. and New Rens-A.

The Junior Pros Finals night at Baruch also featured three All-Star contests and the awarding of the Junior Pros All-Academic teams topped by Josh Goldstein (King Street Kings) with a 99 average. . . In the 7^th Grade All-Star game, RJ Cole (F.A.C.E.S.) took MVP honors while recording 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.  Paul Person (Millbank) had 16 points and Tyler Bourne (New Heights) had 14 for the winning team while Aaron Clarke (Team First), Nate Pierre-Louis (Team First) and Andre Williams (New Heights) all scored 11 points for the losing side. . . Jordan Morgan (New Rens-B) hit the game-winner, Mark Martin (New Rens-A) was MVP with 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Tyrone Cohen (New Heights-Artie) doubled with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the first 8^th Grade All-Star game. . . McLean had the game-high of 19 points in the second 8^th Grade All-Star game.

The 2011 Junior Pros program consisted of 36 teams and featured pre-season workouts and scrimmages, academic recognitions, AND the best middle-school basketball talent on the east coast.